China’s central bank sold some or all of its stake in India’s largest mortgage lender Housing Development Finance Corp Ltd (HDFC) in the June quarter, stock exchange filings show.
According to the latest data disclosed by the lender to the stock exchanges, People’s Bank of China (PBoC) was not among HDFC’s key shareholders as of 30 June. Such disclosures identify only those investors holding over 1% stake. The exact amount of shares sold by PBoC could not be ascertained immediately.
PBoC held a 1.01% stake in HDFC as of 31 March.
The Chinese central bank’s acquisition of HDFC shares had sparked concerns in New Delhi that Chinese investors were looking to pick up stakes in Indian firms, following a sharp correction in stock prices in March and April due to the pandemic. The fact that HDFC owns a 19.4% stake in HDFC Bank Ltd had added to the concerns. On 18 April, the government banned automatic investments from China and mandated that all such investments get government approval first.
According to data provided by nseinfobase.com of Prime Database, foreign portfolio investments into NSE listed stocks from China rose to ₹3,257.67 crore at March-end, from ₹774.12 crore in December.
On Friday, HDFC shares closed at ₹1,886.25, down 2.87%. HDFC Bank shares, too, ended in the red, falling 1.81% to close at ₹1,105.35 per share.
